The Widowed Officer
by harrillkaydin
Summary: A 25 year old former Army Corpsman and current Washington, Iowa PD officer named Jonathan Mitchell "Jonny" Parkes lost his wife, 24 year old 911 dispatcher Elle Ann (Johnson) Parkes during the birth of their daughter, Jennie Elle Parkes, who is now 4 months old. Will he find love again or will he focus on raising Jennie on his own?


Jonny wakes up to his daughter screaming her head off so he gets up to get her put of her crib. He looks down at Jennie and sees she looks just like Elle. Jennie looks up at her father. She still cries. He said, "Jennie, what's wrong with you?" He realizes she's burning up. He decides to check her temperature. The reading comes back as 102.7. He knows that's not normal for a baby.

He is supposed to work today. He decides to call in to the department and uses one of his vacation days to take care of his sick child.

He gives Jennie a bottle then while she's taking a nap, he decides to take a shower. He grabs slacks, a t-shirt and socks and boxers. He goes into the bathroom and takes his shower.

After his shower, after getting dressed, he notices he has a 5 o'clock shadow so he decides not to shave yet. But he'll have to before his next shift.

He puts on deodorant and aftershave. He gels up his hair and smoothes it back. Then he goes to get his daughter dressed.

He picks her up from her crib. He notices her diaper is wet so he changes her diaper. She starts giggling. He asks, "What's so funny, Jennie?" Then she starts whining. He said, "Daddy knows you're not feeling well, sweetie. Daddy is going to take good care of you." After changing her diaper and disposing of her wet one, he puts on her My Daddy Is A Police Officer onesie. He starts tearing up because Elle had bought this onesie. It is a 0-6 months onesie. Then he puts a pair of baby jeans on Jennie. Then a pink pair of booties.

He puts her in her car seat and gets her buckled up in it. Then he puts a blanket that was knitted by his mother on top of her. He grabs his phone, wallet, keys, the baby and her diaper bag before heading out the door. He locks his door then heads to the Explorer. He unlocks the car and puts her car seat on the base that's in the backseat. He hears the click then closes her door. He gets in the driver seat and buckles up.

He backs out of the driveway and starts heading to the emergency room. He hears lights and sirens behind him so he pulls to the right to let the emergency vehicle go by. It's an ambulance. Once the rig gets past him, he pulls back into traffic.

He pulls into the emergency room parking lot without an incident. He finds a parking spot nearby. He puts the SUV in park then unbuckles himself. He gets out and closes his door after pocketing his phone and keys. Then he gets Jennie out of her car seat and carries her and the diaper bag into the emergency room. She is crying again. He said, "Jennie, it's okay." A woman sees him and said, "Jonny." He turns around and recognizes the woman. He said, "Ashleigh, what are you doing here?" She said, "I came here to see my daughter who was brought in by ambulance." Emma, her daughter, is 5 years old. She's widowed as well. She's a 911 dispatcher. He asks, "What happened to Emma?" She said, "She had a seizure at preschool and was brought by ambulance here. I can't lose her like I did my husband." Her husband was a deputy. Jonny was there when Deputy Ethan Adams died during a police pursuit that involved both deputies and city officers. He had noticed Ethan crashed while pursuing the suspect and called himself off the pursuit to help his brother-in-law. Ashleigh is his late wife's twin sister.

Then she notices her niece in his arms. She asks, "What's wrong with Jennie?" He said, "She's running a fever. I was supposed to work today but I used one of my vacation days to take care of her. It's tough being a single parent. I know you understand this." She said, "I'll let you go now. I'll text you later about Emma." They go their separate ways. He gets his daughter checked in. Then he goes to sit in the waiting room.

She starts crying so he puts her pacifier in her mouth. Her eyes start to flutter but they stay open. A few minutes later, he gets a text from Ashleigh.

Emma is in a coma.

He texts her back.

I'm so sorry that you got bad news about Emma.

The nurse comes out and calls, "Jennie Parkes." He gets up and said, "That's us."

After finding out all his daughter would need is antibiotics, he leaves with Jennie. His sister-in-law comes back out just as he is leaving. She said, "Can I get a ride back, Jonny?" He asks, "You didn't drive here?" She said, "No. After the hospital called me, I started bawling and my mother knew I shouldn't drive while my emotions were out of whack." He said, "Yeah, I'll give you a ride home." She grabs Jennie from him. She said, "I'll take Jennie from you." He said, "Jennie has to be on antibiotics for the fever."

They walk out to his Explorer. He unlocks the car. She asks, "Which side is Jennie's car seat on?" He said, "The driver side." He gets in the driver seat after putting the diaper bag in the backseat. He buckles up. She gets in the passenger seat a couple minutes later. She buckles up as well. He puts the keys in the ignition and turns it once, the car starts. She said, "Jonny, I've had a crush on you for a few years. I know, I was married and had a crush on another married man who happened to be married to my twin sister." He said, "You did?" She said, "Yeah. I am so lonely now. I've been widowed a little longer than you. I need someone to help me take care of Emma." He said, "I'm a cop and it's hard raising a daughter and knowing I may not come home to her someday." He hears a cop behind him flip on his lights and sirens. He pulls to the right and so does the officer. He said, "Shit, what did I do wrong?" He rolls his window down and a few minutes later, the officer walks up to his window. He has his license, registration and insurance ready for the officer. The officer asks, "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?" He said, "No I don't." The officer said, "I had you on the radar for going 5 over." He hands over his paperwork and the recognition on the officer's face when he looks at the license to see who he just pulled over. He said, "Jonny, I'll be back in a bit." The officer walks back to his cruiser.

Ashleigh said, "You worked with this officer before, haven't you?" He said, "Yes. I don't think he realized he pulled over one of his own until I handed over my license." She said, "You're a great father." He said, "You're a great mother. You raised Emma right so far." She said, "The ER doctor said she might not make it." He takes her hand and gives it a squeeze just as the officer walks back up. She lets go of his hand. He just hopes the officer doesn't notice that.

The officer said, "Jonny, I'm not going to give you a ticket but I will give you a verbal warning. Just don't speed again. Even if it's 5 over." He said, "I don't usually drive the Explorer." The officer said, "I ran the plate and noticed it is still in your late wife's name. You might want to switch it into your name." He said, "I will. I'm in the process of doing that." The officer then lets them go.

She asks, "Are you selling the Camry?" He said, "I am. I realize I should just drive the Explorer because the Camry has so many problems and costing me too much money." She said, "Scrapping it would be better. You could get some of the money back that way." The Camry has custom plates on them so he should probably switch it over to the Explorer with approval from the DMV.

He said, "I need someone to love. And it shouldn't be you." She asks, "You noticed that?" He said, "I noticed you were giving me signals. You are Elle's twin. I felt the electricity when I squeezed your hand when I noticed you were in emotional pain over Emma." She said, "You don't want to love me. We're fraternal twins. We don't look alike." He pulls into his parents driveway to drop off his daughter. She said, "Why are we at your parents?" He said, "I'm dropping Elle off so I can spend time with you. I want you." She said, "I want you, too."

He gets out and takes his daughter's car seat out and grabs the diaper bag. He closes her door then walks up his parents walkway and his mother opens the door. He said, "Mom, can you watch Jennie for the day? I'm gonna spend the day with Ashleigh. Emma's in a coma from a seizure." She said, "You thinking about sleeping with Elle's twin?" He said, "How did you know?" She said, "I know your mind, son. I'm not naive." He said, "So what if I am?" She said, "Just don't break her heart more." She takes her granddaughter and the diaper bag.

He heads back to the car and gets in. He buckles up. He said, "Ashleigh, my mom knows I'm going to sleep with you." She asks, "What did she say?" She wants him so bad. He said, "She said that I shouldn't sleep with my late wife's twin sister and not to break your heart more." He heads for home.


End file.
